In Cyprus the junior party in the ruling coalition left the government.
Links: Cyprus

2011 Sep 19

Turkey escalated a dispute with Cyprus over oil and gas drilling in the eastern Mediterranean, saying that it would send warships to protect its claims to resources off the coast of the divided island. US energy firm, Nobel Energy, had just exploratory drilling for oil and gas off the coast of Cyprus despite strong warnings from Turkey not to do so.
Links: Turkey, Oil, Cyprus, Gas

2011 Sep 21

Turkey’s Pres. Erdogan signed a deal with Turkish-controlled north Cyprus to begin drilling for oil and gas.
Links: Turkey, Oil, Cyprus, Gas

A British court heard that Turkish-Cypriot business magnate Asil Nadir (70), one of Britain's most infamous fugitives, stole almost £150 million from his Polly Peck business empire. Nadir fled to northern Cyprus in 1993, months before he was due to stand trial for fraud, but dramatically returned to Britain in August 2010 and was immediately arrested.
Links: Britain, Cyprus

2012 Jan 27

Fitch ratings downgraded the debt of Belgium, Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia and Spain even as European finance chiefs gathering in Davos sought to reassure global business leaders that Europe is on track to solve its debt crises.
Links: Italy, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, EU, Cyprus, Slovenia, Economics

2012 Feb 16

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu paid a historic visit to Cyprus, declaring the two countries' warming ties a "natural relationship" in a reflection of the rapidly shifting alliances in this turbulent part of the world.
Links: Cyprus, Israel

2012 Mar 4

Israel and Cyprus signed an accord to lay an underwater electricity cable between the Mediterranean nations, the first stage in a bid to transfer power between the Jewish state and mainland Europe. Additional underwater cables are to connect Cyprus and mainland Europe via Greece, which was also part of the agreement signed in Jerusalem. The deal is still subject to final approval by Israel, Cyprus and Greece, that is expected to follow the completion of a feasibility study within a year.
Links: Cyprus, Israel, Greece

2012 Jun 25

Cyprus said it would seek aid from the eurozone’s bailout funds.
Links: Cyprus

The Cypriot government asked for a bail-out after two of its largest banks, stacked with Greek bonds, fell victim to the 2011 write-down of Greek debt.
Links: Cyprus

2012 Oct 4

London listed steelmaker Evraz, part-owned by tycoon Roman Abramovich, is to gain control of one of Russia's largest coal mines after acquiring a half stake in Cyprus-based investment vehicle Corber Enterprises for an undisclosed sum.
Links: Russia, Britain, Cyprus

2012 Nov 4

In Cyprus David Lee Collins (19), an off-duty British soldier, was stabbed to death in a nightclub. On Nov 5 a court in Cyprus remanded three British tourists in custody on suspicion of the fatal stabbing. On May 17, 2013, Mohammed Abdulkadir Osman (19) of London was jailed for eight years for the fatal stabbing. Charges against two other men arrested with him were dropped in a plea bargain.
Links: Britain, Cyprus, Murder

Greek Cypriots voted for a new president. Conservative opposition party leader Nicos Anastasiades garnered 45.46% of the vote in the first round of voting, some 18 points over communist-backed Stavros Malas. With nearly all the votes counted, Anastasiades had 57.48% of the ballots, far ahead of Malas' 42.52%.
Links: Cyprus

In Cyprus anxious depositors drained cash from ATMs after European officials ruled that part of a new 10-billion-euro bailout must be paid for directly from the bank accounts of ordinary savers. An emergency deal in Brussels set a one-time levy of 9.9% on Cypriot bank deposits of more than 100,000 euros. Deposits under that would be taxed at 6.75%.
Links: EU, Cyprus, Money, Taxes

2013 Mar 17

Britain's Treasury chief said the government will compensate UK troops who lose money to Cyprus's bailout tax, a levy of 6.75 to 9.9 percent on all bank balances as part of a deal with creditors for €10 billion ($13 billion) in rescue money. British residents of Cyprus not working for the UK military or government could be out of pocket.
Links: Britain, Cyprus, Money

Cyprus clinched a last-minute solution to avert imminent financial meltdown early today after it agreed to slash its oversized banking sector and inflict hefty losses on wealthy depositors in troubled banks to secure a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout. Under the terms of the bailout deal, the country' second largest bank, Laiki — which sustained the most damaged from bad Greek debt and loans — is to be split up, with its nonperforming loans and toxic assets going into a "bad bank." The healthy side will be absorbed into the Bank of Cyprus.
Links: Cyprus, Economics

2013 Mar 28

Cypriots get their first chance to access their savings in almost two weeks when the country's banks reopened, albeit with strict restrictions on transactions.
Links: Cyprus, Banking

2013 Mar 30

Officials said big depositors at Cyprus' largest bank may be forced to accept losses of up to 60 percent, far more than initially estimated under the European rescue package to save the country from bankruptcy.
Links: Cyprus, Banking

2013 Apr 2

Cyprus finance minister Michalis Sarris resigned after only 5 weeks on the job. He had agreed in negotiations with the EU to impose a “haircut” on samll savers with less than €100,000 in their accounts.
Links: Cyprus, Economics

Iran withdrew its ambassador in Cyprus to protest the country's decision to extradite an Iranian to the United States for prosecution. Iranian Saeid Mohabat (45) was extradicted to the US last month to face charges of breaching UN sanctions against Iran.
Links: Cyprus, Iran

2013 Jul 9

A Cyprus criminal court found former defense minister Costas Papacostas guilty of manslaughter in the explosion of confiscated Iranian munitions in 2011 that killed 13 people and wrecked his country's main power station. On Aug 2 Papacostas was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
Links: Cyprus

2013 Sep 2

A court in Cyprus ordered the extradition of Dinos Michaelides, a former Cypriot interior minister, to Greece for questioning related to corruption charges against Akis Tsohatzopoulos, a once-powerful Greek politician, who is now in jail.
Links: Cyprus, Greece

2013 Sep 10

Shareholders of Cyprus' largest bank elected six Russians to sit on its new, 16-member board of directors, a consequence of the country's bailout agreement with international creditors.
Links: Russia, Cyprus, Banking

2013 Oct 7

In Cyprus an independent judicial inquiry said former communist president, Demetris Christofias, and his government bear chief blame for the island's financial meltdown in March after they failed to control spending and behaved in an imperious manner.
Links: Cyprus

In Cyprus the largest haul of looted, centuries-old church icons, frescoes and mosaics ever repatriated were officially welcomed after a nearly four-decade journey. Police discovered the religious treasures in a 1997 raid on the apartment of Turkish art dealer Aydin Dikmen in Munich, Germany.
Links: Cyprus

2013 Nov 15

Cyprus’ former Pres. Glafcos Clerides (b.1919) died. He was widely regarded as a world-class statesman who guided Cyprus into the EU.
Links: Cyprus

2013 Nov 21

Cyprus' biggest private university said it will start accepting the digital currency Bitcoin as an alternative way to pay tuition fees.
Links: Cyprus, Money

2014 Jan 28

A Cyprus Forestry Department official said illegal logging in the bailed-out island nation has picked up sharply as people turn to firewood to save on heating bills.
Links: Cyprus, Trees

2014 Feb 11

Cyprus Pres. Nicos Anastasiades met with Dervis Eroglu on the UN’s “green line” and put forward a “road-map” where their two communities would unite under a federation but run their affairs as “constituent states.”
Links: Cyprus

Cyprus said it has raised 100 million euros ($137 million) through its first bond issue since international lenders rescued the country from near-bankruptcy a little over a year ago.
Links: Cyprus

2014 May 12

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Turkey to pay 90 million euros ($124 million) in damages for its 1974 invasion of Cyprus, the largest such ruling in its history. Turkish officials the next day said that the country will not pay the fine.
Links: Turkey, EU, Cyprus

2014 May 17

Cyprus' finance minister said that international creditors have given a fourth straight positive review to the country's financial rescue program and are projecting that its economy will shrink this year slightly less than earlier forecasts.
Links: Cyprus

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2014 Jun 18

Cyprus raised 750 million euros ($1.017 million) from international markets with its first public issue of bonds since last year's international bailout saved it from bankruptcy.
Links: Cyprus, Economics

2014 Oct 7

Cyprus' president suspended talks on reunifying the ethnically divided island in response to Turkey's plans to search for oil and gas in waters where the Cypriot government has already licensed Italy's Eni and South Korea's Kogas to drill.
Links: Turkey, Oil, Cyprus, Gas

2014

In Cyprus more than two million migratory songbirds were indiscriminately slaughtered this year to be served as delicacies in local restaurants. Although trapping is illegal, authorities had yet to introduce a comprehensive action plan against bird trapping.
Links: Cyprus, Birds

2015 Jan 3

A cargo ship carrying cement overturned off the coast of Scotland. The Cypriot-registered Cemfjord sank the next day. The crew of seven Poles and one Filipino were missing.
Links: Cyprus, Scotland, Tragedy, Ship

2015 Feb 25

Cyprus signed a deal with Russia allowing its navy ships to make regular port calls on the island.
Links: Cyprus

Europol, the European Union's policy agency, said that raids earlier this week in Austria, Cyprus, Slovenia and Switzerland led to 26 arrests and the identification of 14 possible victims of the smugglers. The raids of brothels and restaurants targeted Chinese criminal networks that reportedly smuggled people to the continent.
Links: Austria, China, Switzerland, Cyprus, Slovenia, Sex

2015 Apr 2

The Cyprus parliament legislated to criminalize the denial of the massacre of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago.
Links: Armenia, Cyprus

2015 Apr 19

In Cyprus Turkish Cypriots voted for a new leader for the breakaway north in an unpredictable contest as talks to reunify the ethnically split island are expected to resume next month.
Links: Cyprus

2015 Apr 26

Voters in the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus went to the polls to choose a new president in a runoff that could accelerate UN-backed efforts to unify the island. Turkish Cypriot independent Mustafa Akinci swept to victory with 60.5 percent of the vote over incumbent conservative Dervis Eroglu.
Links: Cyprus

2015 Apr 29

The leaders of Cyprus, Egypt and Greece agreed to step up cooperation on combatting terrorism amid fears that worsening security conditions in neighboring countries such as Libya could threaten the region.
Links: Cyprus, Egypt, Greece

Cyprus jailed Hussein Bassam Abdallah (26), a member of the armed wing of Hezbollah, for six years after he pleaded guilty to charges of stockpiling explosives to attack Jewish targets abroad.
Links: Cyprus, Jews

2015 Jul 17

Cyprus' largest bank said it has sold off more than three quarters of its Russian operations to limit its exposure to risk and to concentrate on its core, domestic business.
Links: Russia, Cyprus, Banking